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Drive your business success with leading credit card merchant services

You may not think your customers choose your business based on the payment methods you accept. You probably assume that if your product is good enough—whether it's a deep-tissue massage or a fluffy bedspread—then it's the quality that keeps people coming back. To a certain extent, this is certainly true. But, choosing the right credit card merchant services is another way to help attract customers to your offerings.

Dangerous discounts

Low processing rates can be attractive to many merchants, with the promise of offering customers more ways to pay without sacrificing too much of your own profit margin. Merchant service providers who advertise “deep discounts” for payments processing are usually fly-by-night operations that would be a risky partner for your business. These companies can be full of salespeople who deceive merchants at every turn, coming armed with overpriced equipment and ironclad contracts.

You are likely not to receive helpful customer service, if any at all. So you will end up spending your own valuable time trying to sort everything out when there's a problem with your equipment or systems—time you should be spending serving your customers. The worst part about these “budget” merchant service providers is that oftentimes you don't realize you've made a mistake until it's too late. To avoid finding yourself in such a predicament, begin your merchant services search with a real salesperson from a reputable company who won't sugarcoat the details or give you the run-around. Here's how picking the right company can pay off in spades for your business.

Keeping customers happy

Credit card merchant services should be all about who pays you, not just about who you pay. You have to make your customers happy before you can even think of securing further capital to keep your business growing. A top processor understands a partnership is for the long run—not until the client realizes the equipment is shoddy or that the customer service line is just a never-ending series of answering machines.

Instead, you need payment solutions that work, every time, so customers enjoy fast-moving lines and simple transactions. What’s more, your associates need to be comfortable and competent using your POS terminals for whatever business scenarios come their way. Therefore, you should partner with a provider that allows you to custom-build your own Point of Sale Systems and software.

Support when you need it most

It’s important that you choose a payment processor that will provide you and your staff with adequate guidance and training on all payments equipment. They should also show you how to best utilize the equipment to help meet your business goals. For instance, buying a cheaper, refurbished credit card terminal online may sound tempting at the time. But, when you inevitably encounter your first problem with it and have nowhere to turn for support, you’ll quickly regret your decision. Then, when your terminal is down, you’ll risk losing out on sales or making the experience unnecessarily cumbersome for your customers. There’s no doubt such a poor payment experience will stick in a customer's head the next time they consider visiting your busines.

Customers choose to give their business to merchant locations where there won't be any hassle when it comes time to pay. Partnering with a processor that provides 24/7 comprehensive support to keep your systems up and running is a big step you can take to keep your customers happy.

Security now

Criminals can take down a small business in a few seconds flat with a security breach. Large companies like Target have the money behind them to recover, but you might not. Investing in POS terminals that feature protective barriers between your customers’ data and criminals can help keep your company and customers safe. Hackers become more aggressive every year, and their tactics change as quickly as the technology does. Leading merchant service companies may not know it all, but they know the most advanced ways of keeping information safe. Putting safeguards in place to guard against a data breach is one key way to show your customers their importance to you as a merchant and to drive your business to the top.